Report: Almost Half of TX Online Job Ads Require College Degrees

by Eric Galatas/TNS

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas has the 10th best online labor market in the nation for college graduates, according to a new report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.

Using job ads posted online, the report ranks states by the number of jobs per college-educated worker overall, and within specific career fields.

Tony Carnevale, the report’s lead author and the center’s director, says the large number of STEM related job listings – science, technology, engineering and math – means degrees in these areas are assets for job seekers.

“The STEM jobs are very powerfully represented, as are jobs in business, education jobs, health care jobs – are the four categories that tend to dominate the employer job ads,” he points out. “This is data from the horse’s mouth – this is the employers telling us what they’re looking for.”

The report says 60 to 70 percent of all job openings are advertised online. The top occupations advertised in Texas are for software and app developers, computer-related positions, and registered nurses.

Carnevale adds that jobs posted online may be disproportionately aimed at college graduates because they are more likely to own personal computers and have access to the Internet at home. He says 48 percent of all online job listings in Texas are seeking degree-holders.

“And it matters less and less where you go to college, first of all,” he stresses. “You need to understand that going and getting a degree is important, but that it behooves people to know what the job prospects are for different majors. What you make really does depend on what you take.”

The report found that 32 percent of online ads in Texas are for managerial and professional jobs and one-third are posted by employers in the professional and business sectors.

Carnavale notes that job candidates who search online also find jobs 25 percent faster than those who do not.